Alyssa Tyler editor in chief 

Before I begin this week’s book review, I must bring up one very important fact, this book duology is extremely inappropriate for anyone under the age of 21. To start, the book opens with a warning stating that the book is only meant for people over the age of 18. I can legally vote, drive, and be a functioning member of society, but I still felt too young to read this book.  

This book is an extremely, very, outrageously dark romance. Compared to last week’s review, A Court of Thorns and Roses, that book is child’s play.  

The story follows Adeline (big shocker) Riley, a best-selling author who just moved into her recently passed grandma’s home, Parsons Manor. Soon after, she finds her great-grandmother’s journal who was brutally murdered years and years ago. Adeline soon finds out that she has a stalker, a huge man in all black that watches her sleep, assaults her, the whole process.  

Of course, however, this stalker is an incredibly attractive sex trafficking ending, child saving vigilante. He has found an obsession with our main character, Adeline. But since the stalker, Zade, or when he is shutting down sex trafficking rings, Z, has a lot of enemies. Since he has found a new obsession, Adeline, she is now being targeted.  

So, the stalker and the victim pair up to bring down this sex trafficking ring. The first book follows this process with more than enough romantic scenes that makes even the most season romantic book veteran’s blush.  

The book was entertaining, Zade is almost too perfect. He responds to everything just right; he does amazing things for women and children. It can almost make you ignore the fact that he stalked Adeline, assaulted her, and kills for a living. But you can take what you get, right? 

The first book ends with a cliffhanger, the second book is insanely dark. I’m talking if there is a trigger warning, this book needs it. Within the first half of the book, I think I lost count of the times people were killed, sexually assaulted, sold, tortured, everything.  

To be completely honest, this book was entertaining, but not worth the trigger warnings, content warnings, and everything else that happened throughout it. The number of times that I stopped reading and stared off into the distance thinking “what am I reading” is a record amount.  

I’ve read a number of dark romances, but I would not recommend this to anyone under the age of 21 or someone who has an extremely strong stomach. The romance was interesting, the writing was well written, the characters were interesting, but the extremely rough subject matter made it hard to enjoy. This is also coming from someone that studies legal issues, murder cases, sexual assault cases, and even venture into human trafficking. I can read about those cases, listen to podcasts about murder, I’ve read books about serial killers and other illegal issues. But this book just had so much, and so graphic, it almost seemed too real, but it wasn’t real. Overall, I rated it 2/5.